There is something very interesting going on in Montreal this year with our hockey team - the NHL Montreal Canadiens. The Montreal team has a rich history much like the NY Yankees with 24 Stanley Cups wins (championships wins) in 100 years. The team is going to be celebrating its 100th anniversary next season. The fans are just crazy about their team. The whole city is behind this team. It's really THE team in town. Minimum 5-10 pages in the newspaper every day. The enthusiasm for the team is similar to college towns supporting their local college football teams. The whole city lives and dies for that team (think Lincoln Nebraska for the Huskers). Anyhow, the team is doing surprisingly very well this year and after over 15 years of so-so performances, they are back at the top this year with a young, talented, and energetic team. You just can imagine the buzz the city is going through right now. Montreal can be the best and the worst play to play hockey on the planet. The arena is close to exploding when the team is doing well but the fans can also be ruthless for players who are not delivering the merchandise. A good example is Alex Kovalev - our Russian superstar. Last year, he had the worst season of his career often delivering a good performance or showing up one game out of four. The fans would have crucified him. They would have traded him for a couple of hockey sticks. He was considered a prima-donna only playing for himself whose only interest was fattening his wallet. This year - he's greater than god. He's literally the king in town. Nobody would ever even consider trading him. He's playing his best hockey in years and he is literally the inspiration and the leader of this team. He is consistent and shows up to play every game. He's like reborn. It’s funny how things can change within a few months. He has always been considered a tough player to coach - one of those players that need’s special treatment. So what happened exactly for that 180-degree transformation to happen considering we have the exact same coaching staff as last year and more than 80% of the team members are still the same? Nobody really knows. Here a couple of possible explanation. Alex grew in Russia during the communist era (he's 35 years old) and he grew up used to be "the man" on his team and being considered special. Last year, we had a rookie coach that came in and treated everybody the same. Things didn't gowell at all with Alex. We know that the management had a discussion with the athlete during the off-season. I think the coaching staff got to know who Alex really was and instead of working against him, decided to work with him. He is given more consideration and Alex started to feel more appreciated, more important. He has found back that feeling of being "special" and has responded wonderfully. He is a leader and an inspiration to our other young Russian talent enjoying his role as a leader and a mentor on the team. So what is the lesson here? I am not saying that you should give a special treatment to all your superstar players. What I am saying is that you should look where they are coming from and what kind of environment they've success in. Get to know them. Work with them and empower them. Humans have a unique need to feel important, useful, appreciated. They will respond like nobody when they feel they got the confidence of the coach. Our friend Cindy Bristow from softballexcellence.com often says that girls especially feel the need to please. They will do whatever it takes to please their coach. For those of you who are new to coaching girls coming from coaching males, coaching girls is like coaching superstars in the sense that you must get to know them, understand them and know what they respond to - just like Alex Kovalev. A few pointers for dealing with especially difficult talented players: 1. They need attention - they need that extra attention. How can you give it without it affecting the rest of the team? 2. Find the key - find their internal motivations and what they respond to. If you do so, they will respond well to you and they can often make the difference between losing and winning. 3. Put them to work - They know they are good. Acknowledge it and give them special responsibilities so that can feel appreciated and that they put their 4. Check the heart - check if they are committed to the group. If not, their presence might be destructive. Do they want to be part of the team? If so, they can really help. If not, they are your worst nightmare. 5. Make them accountable - greater responsibilities and greater talent means greater performances. Make them accountable for it. I could go on and on and on. As coaches, we all had the experience of dealing with such players. My last word of wisdom would be this: softball is team sport first and foremost. The team must be the priority at all time. No individual is more important than the group. However, within a team-oriented approach, there is room for individualization of your coaching with all of the athletes, which will benefit the team. Get to know your players and find what they respond to, what button to push. Out coach your opponents. Marc Dagenais"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach" For more tips, go to my website: www.softballperformance.com